


Spirit of Ionia (Preview)

by CeruleanOak



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen, Ionia - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-22
Updated: 2014-06-22
Packaged: 2018-02-05 18:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1828027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeruleanOak/pseuds/CeruleanOak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(work in progress)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spirit of Ionia (Preview)

A white haze hovered over an endless ceiling of deep green, churning with moisture, volumous and without form, caressing everything it touched and leaving water droplets so fine they would instantly absorb into their homestead. All these leaves were so overrun that they sweat with sweet dew, pooling and falling onto the dryer leaves below. The high, quiet wind and the weight of the water made the long trunks of bamboo knock together near the top of the canopy, and far below in the darker realm of the trees the robins hopped from branch to branch, newly awake and eyeing the moist soil for grubs that might emerge from amongst the thick layer of dark-brown, lifeless leaves, where it appeared that nothing at all moved or made a sound. The only movement was the faint ripples along the surface of Toad Pond. 

Here it was even more quiet. The fog hovered over the water almost motionlessly, thickening the air so that it was difficult to see past it, bumping into the forest where it was less inclined to travel. The hiss of the wind through the canopy was a dull noise, far and above, overpowered by the more pronounced statements of the pond. The glass surface danced with the occasional fall of dew droplets. The tadpoles beneath the surface skittered away before returning slowly to investigate and chatter with their siblings. Around the water’s rounded edge nothing stirred, indulging in the quiet. Toads shifted comfortably in the mud, their heads just peaking out of the water, eyes closed. Water dancers skittered more lazily than usual. Instead of hovering over the water, the damselflies were resting on the tips of their favorite reeds. There was a waterfall two kilometers north of here that roared, and it was quiet enough now that Kino could just hear it if he kept his eyes closed.

They opened. His oblong pupils narrowed, black over a light-brown and yellow surface, surveying the whole of the pond through the haze. The black, volcanic stones that inhabited this part of the mountain stuck out of the water in their familiar layout. The bare parts glistened with moisture, and the green hair of its moss curled in delight in the morning mist. His froggy skin enjoyed the morning air as well, but it beckoned him to return to the deep pool and be free of the air entirely. He adjusted himself on his haunches, only slightly, rocking back into the black wall behind him. It was the first time he had moved all morning, and from a distance through the fog he must have looked like one of the stones.

Kino was an Ionian mud toad and the biggest of them all. If he were to raise up off his haunches and stand, he was taller than most humans. His shoulders were broad, rotating around him like boulders as he turned. He shuffled and unstuck his feet, a pair of padded, nailless claws that gripped the rock as lichen did. He liked the bare rock best for the grip, able to jump much farther so nestled. His muscly legs pulsed and his throat bloated as he considered the places he could leap to, but he had no reason to move. Life was still in rest for now.

The other toads appreciated Kino's diligent guard of the pond entrance, although it had been so long and generations of toads had come that now it was expected of him. Some of them were so content with this arrangement that they slept all day, only waking to eat. The toads here were nowhere near his size, and most Ishikari toads were no larger than a human baby. The elder toad was certainly the fattest, always submersed in the center of the great pond, where the walls of the mountain were steepest and the water was deepest. He was near Kino’s size, but rounder, much more toad-shaped. It was said that the Toad Spirit was far larger than any of them, but Kino had never seen him, and neither had the others he’d asked. The tadpoles here in the nursery were the size of chestnuts at this time of year, still naive and mostly mindless. They regarded Kino as some kind of great figure of the pond, but that was only because they'd hardly met other toads and tended to forget the ones they had seen.

The entrance that Kino guarded was only a small section of the pond, mostly shallow water surrounded by the bamboo and the high walls of the mountainside, but around the bend the waters were deep and wide where the mountain streams trickled in, causing an endless ripple across the still. There many rocks creeping out of the water, making it hard sometimes to tell between toad and stone. All around its borders the pond rose out of soft, comfortable mud, only thick enough for the youngest of soft grasses to grow. Crawling out of the pond was like sliding onto a blanket. The sweet grass grew plentifully in the shallow edges of the water and felt good to swim through. Kino thought that it may be time to indulge himself before making his daily journey to the river, but a movement in the fog caused him to freeze.

A white line moved between the bamboo, disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. The toad’s eyes clenched as he leaned forward, determined to perceive it. There, it came again, confirming that it was no mere trick of the light. Something was out there.

He croaked nervously, causing a number of small toad eyes to open. Many of them disappeared outright into the water, while the others hovered around, wondering what exactly was happening. The tadpoles swam obliviously in circles, either unable to hear the warning or too preoccupied to notice. The robins, Kino noticed, had vanished.

He looked again, keeping his eyes on the white mystery, hoping that it would move along. Whatever it was, it moved like an animal, inconsistent, pausing often. It was too big to be a rodent and too small to be a wolf.

A part of it that may have been its head turned towards the pond. Kino’s throat locked up and he found himself unable to move, frightened and captivated by what he saw.

A pure white fox approached, only it wasn’t a fox. It was a human, or… it must have been human. It was difficult to see through the fog (and toads didn’t have great vision to begin with). The fox moved silently on its hind legs, approaching the water. Its long face was smooth white, as though furless, with black lines across its face like scratch marks. Around its body was a blanket of white and red wrapped between its folded arms. The creature looked left and right, as if it feared being discovered. Now he saw that upon its head was a strange sight, long soft hair, black as night, falling across its body, light and wild, with its dog ears tall and pointed and black as well. So it was a fox then! But… why did it walk on two legs? It was nearly at the water’s edge now, and beads of sweat were forming upon Kino’s head. His heart pounded while his throat was locked tight. His froggy eyes bulged at what he saw.

It was a woman. Her skin was white, but smooth and touched with color. Her bare legs glistened in the morning light, tucked close together as she kneeled. Her hands left the folds of material and careful soft-nailed fingers pressed into the soft grass and mud. Her head leaned over the water, black hair falling around her, into the water and floating on its surface. She closed her yellow eyes and silently lapped at the water with her small, pink tongue. At the taste of it, she leaned farther still and from behind her emerged not one, but five enormous white tails, waving in the air and brushing against her backside and the ground.

Kino shivered, overtaken by fear. Not a human… Or a fox… A demon!


End file.
